


Birds Eye View

by lasairfhiona



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, avengersfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-13
Updated: 2013-12-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 20:02:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1009493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during WWII Phil meets a man who wants to avenge Dr Erskine's death.  He follows the archer around Europe collecting arrows until one day he can return them.</p><p>written for meteorfire, slighting altering a given prompt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birds Eye View

**Author's Note:**

  * For [meteorfire](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=meteorfire).



He watched as Dr. Erskine's superhuman project finally came to fruition and then go to hell in a hand basket before they were finished congratulating one another as a Hydra agent killed Erskine and destroyed the equipment.

He'd yelled at the other suits about security and the lack thereof that allowed infiltrators to penetrate their eyes only facility. In the end it hadn't done any good so he'd gone back to the records and log books to look for where the leak would have come from regarding the status of Erskine's experiment thus allowing an infiltrator to be able to get into place. When he couldn't find anything conclusive, he went to his friend's files and private journals searching for anything that would help him avenge his friend's death.

It was late one night after he slammed the cover of one of Erskine's private journals shut. He was more than a little disgusted by what he'd read and how his friend had used the young men he'd taken in to try his experiments on. Until one man stood out and succeeded. 'Eye of the Hawk' Abraham had called the young man. He was the prototype for the formula they had used for Steve Rodgers. It was when he pushed back from the desk trying to absorb what he'd read that the figure who'd always been in the shadows watching him finally spoke.

"Are you going to find who is responsible for letting the killer slip in and kill him?"

Turning to watch the figure step out of the shadows. He was surprised to see a man only a decade or so younger than him instead of the boy he thought had been shadowing him. "I'm going to try. Abraham was my friend too."

"He was my father." And it was the confused look he got he continued. "He took me in off the streets and gave me purpose."

"I'm Phil, by the way," he said standing and holding his hand out to the younger man.

"Clint."

"Eye of the Hawk," Phil said remembering something he read in Erskine's journal.

"Did he write about me in his journals?" 

"Yes, he did. It was his success with you that kept him motivated to continue with Steve Rogers." Phil pointed out.

"And what got him killed too."

"Yes, but..." Phil tried to counter.

"I prefer Hawkeye."

"How about I just call you Clint?" Phil suggested

"That's okay too."

"No one knows about you do they?" 

"No. And I'd like to keep it that way. They are going to turn Rogers into a puppet and I don't want that."

"What do you want to do?" Phil asked curious as to what Clint's answer would be.

"I want to kill everyone involved in killing Abraham."

"You know it won't bring him back," Phil pointed out.

"No shit. But I believe in an eye for an eye and those responsible will get my arrow through their eye."

"Can I help?" Phil asked wanting his own payback for those responsible for Abraham's death.

"No. Go back to your office and forget you met me."

"I can't do that," Phil said as he held out the journal that detailed the experimentation that resulted in Clint's enhancement for the other man to take.

The archer's fingers brushed along his as Clint took the journal and then disappeared back into the shadows. No. There would be no way he'd forget about Clint. If Abraham's journal dealing with Clint's time with him and the success of the experimental well as the steps his old friend had gone through to protect Clint, hadn't been enough to capture his interest, meeting Clint had sealed the deal.

###

Eight months of following leads through Europe and finding nothing but a trail of bodies had Phil frustrated. He stood next to Howard Stark and Colonel Phillips looking at yet another body of a middle to upper ranked person in the Hydra chain of command with an arrow through the eye.

"Damit it. He struck again," Phillips declare. "Who is this guy?"

"Hawkeye," Phil answered matter of factly.

"And just who the hell is Hawkeye?" Phillips demanded.

Phil know he couldn't, wouldn't, give up Clint but maybe he could give them just enough to realize that Clint wasn't a threat. "I believe he is one of Erskine's 'kids' and he is avenging the doctor's death."

"Son of a bitch. Could that old coot have experimented on other that we don't know of and actually succeeded?" Phillips wondered.

"So there could be more like Steve?" Howard asked. "And more importantly if there are, why didn't I know?"

"Completely enhanced like Captain Rogers. No, I doubt it. Partially enhanced. That's a possibility," Phil answered hoping that he didn't give anything away.

"Hrmp," Colonel Phillips said before turning and walking away from the body.

Phil knelt down and pulled the arrow from the body, wiping the blood, bone and tissue off on the grass. 

"How many of those do you have now?" Howard asked as Phil stood up.

"This makes ten now," he answered as he and Howard walked away from the dead Hydra agent. As they walked out of the building, Phil used the arrow to salute toward the tree line in the distance.

"You think he's watching us?" Stark asked.

"I know he is. I've been following him for months, always one step behind. After I pulled and kept the fourth arrow, there was a quiver on my bed when I returned to my hotel room. Sometimes I find folders with intel."

"Your anonymous source?"

"Yes," he answered as walked around the jeep he and Stark were sharing.

"You've met him haven't you?" He asked as he watched him walk around the jeep and climb in the drivers seat.

Setting both hands on the steering wheel, Phil sighed. "Yes," he answered again before reaching down to turn the ignition. "He came out of the shadows to ask if I was going to find those responsible for Erskine's death then melted back into the shadows and I haven't actually seen him since," Phil explained as he put the jeep in gear to head back to base. Neither one of them spoke for which he was glad. He was too lost in his thoughts about their conversation. He was glad Howard had given up questioning him about Clint. He really didn't want to try and explain why he was following the archer across Europe. Because how did you explain how a twenty minute conversation with a man had left him wanting more. More time to talk to Clint, to get to know him.

###

Phil dropped down on the sofa, a glass of scotch in his hand. Looking around in the dim light he saw the amount of dust that had settled over everything. The air was stale from the apartment being closed for the last eighteen months while he was chasing a shadow. But now he was done. Captain Rogers was missing in the Arctic. Bucky Barnes was gone. And now all he had was two quivers of arrows to show for his travels.

"Didn't anyone tell you that you shouldn't drink alone?"

Phil snorted and looked toward the darkened doorway that led to his bedroom and watched as Clint walked out of the darkened room. "I'm not alone now. Make yourself useful and grab the bottle. I need a refill," he said as he drained the last in his glass with a grimace and held it up.

Clint filled the glass and dropped down next to Phil on the sofa. "You still shouldn't drink."

"Why? What's it to you if I drink myself into a stupor?" Phil asked as he took a large gulp of his drink. He watched as Clint took the glass out of his hand and set it down in front of them on the coffee table. 

"You followed me all over Europe and Russia. You were always one step behind me and then you left. I missed you being there." Clint admitted.

"Like you even noticed I was there," Phil commented sarcastically, slurring his words from the alcohol he'd drank before he got home. He leaned forward to grab his glass again but found himself stopped by Clint's hand on his arm.

"I knew you were there. I was closer than you ever imagined. I helped you and I protected you. Now I'm going to protect you from yourself."

"Protect me from myself? What makes you think I need protecting?"

"Because you're trying to drink yourself stupid. Now I'm going to put you to bed."

Phil let Clint pull him up and walk him toward the bedroom. "Sheets are going to be too dusty," Phil said randomly as Clint pushed him through the doorway.

"Nope. I changed them before you got home." 

Phil stopped and looked at Clint. God he wanted to believe on the implications of Clint's actions. "You're staying with me right?"

"If you want me too."

Phil reached out and brought Clint closer. "I want you too," he said before closing the last bit of distance between them and kissed Clint. He'd often dreamed of this moment and the feel of Clint's lips on his far surpassed anything he'd imagined. Swaying a little, he pulled back and rested his head on Clint's shoulder.

"Bed now. We can explore this tomorrow."

"You're not going to run again?" Phil asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"No. I'm done running now."

"Good," Phil said as he laid back, pulling Clint with him until they laid on a tangled heap of arms and legs. Laughing Phil, got comfortable and pulled Clint against him. He would sleep well tonight and looked forward to whatever tomorrow brought as long as Clint kept his promise and stayed with him.


End file.
